What a season it’s been so far! After finishing in the top 10% overall last December at the XTERRA Trail Running World Championships held in the majestic Kaaawa Valley at Kualoa Ranch, located on the northeastern side of Oahu, Hawaii, I was poised to make a run at an XTERRA Trail Running Regional Title and a top 10 finish at Worlds. Despite minimal training and prolonged injuries and illness last fall, I came out all right, but had a lot of room for improvement. At the start of the 2009 XTERRA season, it was my goal to start it off with a bang and obtain my goals.
My first couple of competitions this year included the world famous Empire State Building Run-Up where I PR’ed with a time of 15:01 after three consecutive years of being invited to compete in that race, finishing 2nd All-time in the Cathedral of Learning Stairclimbing Endurance Challenge, held at the University of Pittsburgh and coming in 6th (1st Male 20-29) at the JC Stone 50k in Pittsburgh, PA. I came up short of my expectations in all of these events, and this was frustrating. I was hoping for a sub 14 in the ESBRU, a sub 3:30 at JC Stone, and to break the unofficial world record of 101 at the CoL Stairclimbing event. Despite nutrition issues at CoL, I was able to still climb the stairs 71x in 15 hours and 34 minutes. At JC Stone, I was running neck to neck with the leader through 20 miles and on pace for about a 3:30, until I suffered from some cramping issues over the final 8 miles. Throughout the remaining of March and early April, my training greatly improved and I was in tremendous shape with an extremely sharp competitive edge.
However, only days leading up to my first XTERRA race, I took a bad fall while running some trail intervals and broke several ribs. I felt OK for the first couple of days after the fall, other than some bad bruises and open cuts. But this would soon change and I’d be faced with some unexpected hurdles.
XTERRA Race #1
XTERRA Muddy Moose 22km
Location: Wolfeboro, NH
Date: April 26, 2009
The XTERRA Muddy Moose 22km was the first race of the New England Trail Run Series. This race was held in Wolfeboro, NH and the course was a single loop that went through bogs, logging roads, single track trails, vistas and a lot of rocks. I knew that my hands were tied coming into this race. Just days prior to the event, I had a bad fall that resulted in breaking several ribs, bruising my knee and both arms. It was difficult enough breathing, but I also had a lot of pain in my legs where my skin was ripped off from the fall.
At the start of this race, I decided to go out hard, very hard. Since there was also a four mile event that started at the same time as the 22km race, it was difficult not too go out hard. I jumped out in front early and ran with a small group of others for the first couple of miles before some severe pain set in my chest. Backing off some, I ran a more relaxed race but still help 6th place through 12 miles. With two miles to go, I began having a lot of trouble breathing and my body was shutting down. I could barely run and I knew that my lead over the rest of the pack wasn’t anything too great. Not to my surprise, I was passed over and over again. Within a matter of minutes, I fell down to about 25th place. I tried to make the most of the final miles, and struggled to the finish in 28th place overall. This was definitely not the way I wanted to start my XTERRA season, but still good enough to automatically qualify for Nationals.
Regardless, the course was insane, extreme, and totally hardcore. A lot of it was ankle or knee deep in mud, and those hills were serious. It was a very competitive race and a great venue overall. I loved the course, the competition, the area, but it just wasn’t my day. Following the race, I left for Mt. Washington and tried to climb to the summit, but there was way too much ice and I was in too much pain. Over the next couple of weeks, I took a lot of time off, endured a lot of pain (especially getting out of bed in the morning) and finally started to heal about a month later.
Place: 28th (5th Male 25-29)
XTERRA Race #2
XTERRA Richmond Cup Xduro 21k Trail Run
Location: Brown’s Island, Richmond, VA
Date: June, 2009
The XTERRA Richmond Xduro 21km Trail Run was part of the Mid Atlantic Cup weekend, held on Brown’s Island in Richmond, VA. This race consisted of a technical course that went through single track trails, climbed over an ancient Indian tribe village, along the James River and over a couple of bridges.
There was a very competitive field of over 600 runners in this event and the start was fast. I led the race though the first couple of miles, but wasn’t expecting such a flat, fast course at first. I did gain ground later in the race and secured a 12th place finish, respectively.
Place: 12th (4th Male 30-34)
XTERRA Race #3
XTERRA Hibernia Park 8k Trail Run
Location: Hibernia Park, Coatsville, PA
Date: June 18, 2009
The XTERRA Hibernia Park 8k Trail Run is the 3rd race of the Philly Trail Run Series. Being only an 8k, this race would require a completely different strategy than the others and also more speed. On route to South Eastern Pennsylvania from Pittsburgh, there were numerous storm and flood warnings posted, including a tornado watch. This was actually kind of exciting in a way, and I was looking forward to a ‘real” adrenaline pumping cross country race that would turn out to be a mud pit.
The trip out was rainy, but I ended up meeting my friends Michele, Brody and Brian and we toed the line with the rain coming down hard. There were some stars in the mix, mostly from the Philly area, and this race ended up being much more competitive than I ever thought. After a brief sprint through the field, we ended up on a narrow single track that was saturated and extremely muddy. Everyone kept going down and it was tough to get any kind of stride going. The course was fun, exhilarating and even included a “swim” across a flooded stream!
The race to the finish was tough, consisted of a long, but gradual uphill climb on a soaking wet dirt trail and rain pelting us. I stayed strong, dug deep and held off a couple of challengers for a 7th place finish.
Place: 7th (3rd Male 20-29)
XTERRA Race #4
XTERRA Sugarbush Northeast Cup Xduro 21k Trail Run
Location: Sugarbush Resort, Sugarbush, VT
Date: July 12, 2009
The XTERRA Sugarbush Xduro 20km Trail Run was part of the Northeast Cup weekend held at the Sugarbush Resort in Sugarbush, VT. I was really looking forward to this race all year and was eager to race. After spending a week at my camp for the 4th of July in the mountains of PA, I ventured north to the Green Mountains and Sugarbush, VT. My trip up was quite exciting, and included a near head on collision with a large Moose off of highway VT 100. XTERRA let us camp on the mountain just a couple hundred yards from the race site, which was awesome. It was a windy night and my tent swayed often, but I was able to get a good night sleep and woke up ready to race.
About 20 minutes to the start of the race, I encountered a major problem that was totally unexpected. As I was changing into my race gear, I had the car trunk open with my keys laying on top of my backpack. Then suddenly, a huge gust of wind came out of nowhere and my truck slammed shut! Due to how my car alarm is set up, the driver and passenger side doors both automatically locked up and I was now locked out of my car minutes before the race! This put me in a position where I’d be forced to race on a very technical, steep and muddy half marathon distance trail race with old training shoes, no watch, sunglasses and sunscreen. I frantically went around asking shoe vendors and others if they had a pair of race shoes that I could use, but nobody had my size. Less than 5 minutes before the race, I almost decided to scratch. I didn’t want to risk a bad performance, but deciding to compete in this race under less than ideal conditions was a decision that would later prove to be crucial, and in a good way.
Shortly after the start, we immediately proceeded up the mountain. The climb was extremely steep and the trails were technical. The surrounding scenery was absolutely beautiful, but the last couple of miles of the race were delusional. With about three miles to go, we passed by the finish, made another steep climb and then headed down an access road. Thinking that was the home stretch, most runners picked it up, only to find out that there was a sharp turn and another very steep climb before we actually headed down the ski slop to the finish! I was in 10th through most of the race, but gained three sports over the last couple of miles, including out kicking a good runner down the home stretch to secure a 7th place finish. I also won the Men’s 30-34 Age Group, which would turn out to be extremely important in the overall points standings come August.
Place: 7th (1st Male 30-34)
XTERRA Race #5
XTERRA Bear Creek Xduro 21km Trail Run
Location: Bear Creek Mountain, Macungie, PA
Date: July 19, 2009
The XTERRA Bear Creek Xduro 21km Trail Run was a very competitive race and the Philly Series season finale, held at the Bear Creek Mountain Resort in Macungie, PA. I had a great feeling about this race since early in the season and was looking forward to seeing some of my college and XTERRA friends there. After visiting a friend in Bucks County for the weekend, I headed up to Bear Creek early Sunday morning and ready to race.
This course consisted of a tight single track loop on the mountain that we did twice. The start was blistering fast as we heading down a field and around a couple of ponds, before a long and technical climb up the mountain. I decided to go out very hard in this race and build a gap between myself the most of the other runners. By the time I hit the summit, I was able to put a nice gap between myself and the rest of the field. Now, I just needed to catch up with the leaders. Not much changed during the first loop, but come the second one, I was slowly able to catch several runners, including two in the final half mile. After a very strong second loop, including a negative split, I was able to hold onto a 4th place finish, respectively.
Place: 4th (2nd Male 20-29)
XTERRA Race #6
XTERRA STOAKED 16km Trail Run
Location: Hanover, NH
Date: August 8, 2009
The XTERRA STOAKED 16km Trail Run was held at the world class Dartmouth XC Facility in Hanover, NH. This was a HUGE race for me because the XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion title was on the line. Despite my poor performance earlier in the season at Muddy Moose, I was currently in 1st overall in the points standings (thanks to a strong race at Sugarbush and also winning my age group). Regardless of how I did in STOAKED, I still pretty much had the points title wrapped up. I just needed to finish relatively strong, try to place in my age group or finish respectively within it. This was an exciting weekend for many of reasons other than the fact that the title was on the line. My buddy McKinley took the trip with me and we also intended on climbing Mt. Washington the next day.
Due to the location of this event, I knew that the competition would most likely be very stiff. There are many exceptional trail runners in New England and many of them in this particular area. The course looked tough and I heard rumors that there was a ton of ankle to knee deep mud. What I didn’t realize, was that the course would start off by going up an extremely steep mountain followed by several smaller climbs. While standing on the line, I saw a couple of familiar faces from Sugarbush and other XTERRA events. Once the gun went off, I went out with another runner who won Sugarbush and we led for over a mile. However, I immediately realized that I didn’t feel as strong as I did in past races and slowly started to back off of the lead. My legs felt dead and my body exhausted. I knew at this point that I wasn’t going to have a knock-out race, so I just tried to position myself into a relaxed pace and decent finish. Over the next couple of miles, things only got worse as I was passed by many more runners and now barely in the top 20.
Just like in most other races, I started to get my rhythm back later in the race. With about 5km to go, I started making a couple of moves and passed a handful of runners and held off any other challengers. It was a sloppy race for me, but I still managed to finish well in the top 20 percentile and most likely secure the XTERRA New England Trail Run Series points title. I thoroughly enjoyed racing on the STOAKED course and it was an intense race that had a great mixture of terrain. The Dartmouth Cross Country course is definitely pretty hardcore and I’ll be back next year!
Place: 19th (7th Male 30-39)
With the XTERRA regular season now over with, I waited on confirmation of whether I ended up winning the regional title or not. To my excitement, I received official confirmation and was officially named the 2009 XTERRA New England Trail Run Series Regional Champion! I just didn’t win the age group title, but also had the highest accumulation of points for all men. This was great news and all of the hardwork has paid off. Now, it’s time to focus on the XTERRA Trail Running National and World Championships.
Special thanks to my family, friends, teammates, sponsors and all of the great people at XTERRA/Team Unlimited! Thanks again for all of the support. You guys all rock!
See you all in Bend!
